Hey folks, I’ve been geeking out over programming languages forever—coding little games and scripts since high school, you know? So I dove into this idea of the “most popular” ones of all time, looking at stuff like TIOBE rankings, Stack Overflow surveys, and GitHub stats. It’s wild how some old-school ones still hang on while new hotshots take over. Here’s my take on the biggies that shaped everything.
Old-School Legends That Started It All
Man, Fortran from way back in 1954? That’s the OG high-level language from IBM, and it’s still kicking in science crunching numbers. I mean, it pops up in TIOBE’s top 20. Then there’s COBOL in 1959—super boring for banks and government, but hey, those mainframes don’t retire easy. 😉
Don’t sleep on LISP from 1958 either; it basically birthed AI ideas with its lists. BASIC hit in 1964 and made PCs fun for everyone in the ’70s. But C in 1972? That’s the king—built UNIX, and it’s been chilling around TIOBE #3 forever.
The ’80s and ’90s Power Players
C++ dropped in 1980, slapping objects onto C for games and big systems—still #4 in TIOBE averages. SQL snuck in around 1979 and totally changed databases; it’s top 10 easy.
Java in 1995? “Write once, run anywhere” was a game-changer—always top 5 in TIOBE.
Web Boom and Today’s Stars
JavaScript, also 1995, runs like 98% of websites—dominated Stack Overflow since 2011, though it dipped to #6 in IEEE’s list. Python from 1991 is my current obsession though—so clean for AI and data stuff, snagged TIOBE #1 since 2022!.
Rising Stars I Can’t Ignore
Go from Google in 2009? Killer for cloud concurrency, hit top 10 before sliding to #16. Rust in 2010 is all about safety—no crashes!—climbed to TIOBE #13, and devs love it in surveys.
Python was crushing PYPL at 29%, with Java and JS chasing. AI and speed are driving it all now.
Why They Stick Around
C, Java, JavaScript? They’re in every historical top list. Python’s 22.61% TIOBE lead in feels huge, but the classics keep legacy and embedded alive. If you’re starting out like I did years ago, mix old and new—you’ll be set.
Crazy how popularity’s part innovation, community, and just plain stubbornness. What’s your fave?